Hot Desking
by POGs
Summary: Pea fic: A little misunderstanding and a lot of innuendo!
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey, this is Em (nonsenseandmischief ) and Kate (HarrysGirl22).**_

_**Ok, so this fic is a little work of smutty nonsense and innuendo which started, I think, as Kate's dream one night and fast became an obsession of ours (not that I spent my working hours dreaming up innuendo lines or anything!? and not that Kate did either!?)**_

_**Anyway, here is the result for you delectation!**_

_**Disclaimer: we don't own anything except for Kate's dream and, judging by this, it's a good job too!**_

_**Honorary mention: Gems, for innuendo laden encouragement and for being a star!**_

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"Aaaaagh, thing!!" she yelled to nobody in particular as she tried, and failed, to get the multimedia projector working for the third time in a row.

She really didn't need this right now. She hated presentations at the best of times. It wasn't that she didn't know what she was talking about – far from it. She was prepared to the point of ridiculousness. Somehow though, it all got lost in the 'presentation' aspect. She would stumble and trip over words and Malcolm's very unhelpful advice of 'picturing the audience naked' had nearly induced a choking fit when, the first time she tried it, her gaze had landed on Harry. She'd thought that arriving early to set up might allay some of her fears, especially seeing as technology was not her closest of friends, but it seemed determined to make even more of an enemy of itself today.

Sticking her head around the door of the Forgery Suite, she tried to decide if there was anyone she could ask for help, but all bar Harry's light was off. Not fancying explaining a broken projector to him to start his day off, she wondered out in the other direction toward the quiet corner where Malcolm often sat, out of sight, to play with the latest gadgets. Bugger it, he wasn't there. She cursed fluently under her breath and tried to think of any alternative which didn't involve alerting Harry to the broken equipment. Noticing Malcolm's compact tool box next to a dismantled mobile phone and several pieces of solder, she seized it and set about recalling the very limited knowledge she had in electrics.

"What have you got there?" Damn it! She was so close to getting back in the suite without him having seen her. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

"Oh, um, some tools," she lifted the box and rattled it to emphasise her point "The, um, projector has broken – again – and I need it for the briefing."

"Do you have a clue what you're doing?" he asked, doubt clearly evident in his voice.

"Well, um, I'm sure I can figure it out. It can't be that difficult Harry."

He reached across for the toolbox and tried to take it from her grasp, trying to ignore the spark of electricity that he felt as his hand brushed against hers.

"I think I should help fix it, I have enough worries without you breaking the damn thing completely and electrocuting yourself in the process."

"Don't worry Harry, one broken projector isn't likely to blow the budget," she huffed, slightly peeved that he thought she couldn't manage on her own. In truth, she reflected, she probably couldn't, but he didn't have to just automatically assume that she would make things worse.

"I'm more bothered about having to replace you than the bloody projector Ruth," a light blush stained his cheeks as he snapped.

Doing the only thing she could manage after his words, she passed him the tool box and trotted down the corridor after him.

She watched with some amusement as he took his jacket off and placed it on the table, rolled up his sleeves and then began rooting around in the tool box. She waited until he had crouched down at the far end of the table and was just about to crawl underneath before she spoke.

"What about the fuse Harry?"

Harry poked his head over the top of the table so he could look at her. "I'm sorry?"

"The fuse. Shouldn't we check that first, you know in case it's just that simple…" she trailed off as she registered the embarrassed look on his face.

"Yes, well, I don't think it will be that but we might as well check it just in case." He tried to inject as much authority into his words as he could manage given that she had just seen him fall at the first hurdle.

Placing the tools back in the box, he began to crawl under the tunnel like desk, cursing whoever designed such an impractical monstrosity. It was built like a bunker; enclosed on all sides and, given the considerable width of the desk top itself, had an improbably small, hinged opening at the far end of the room. Right under the centre of the desk was the housing for all the room's electrics. He rued the day the Grid went minimalist, and longed for a metal box of wires and chips sat in the corner of the room instead. Swearing as he hit his head on the underside of the wood, he bent down and unlatched the wooded door to access the electrics. Ruth's keen eyes watched as his trousers drew themselves tight around his pert bottom, before feeling herself flush and averting her eyes. Her self control, however, was as lacking as her technical knowledge, and she was soon sneaking glances again. She even caught herself craning forward to watch him further as he crept along until his questing hand found the sockets which were set in the floor.

"Ruth, roll a torch in."

Finding the small torch she bent down and obligingly rolled the torch to him. She could just about make out his cramped form in the darkness.

"Thanks"

Resting against the desk, she became aware that Harry was muttering to himself. She smiled as she pictured him under the desk, brow furrowed in concentration, a slight pout on his face. She felt slightly guilty from getting so much enjoyment out of this situation but if nothing else it was helping to calm her nerves about the presentation.

"Ruth, it's no good. You'll have to come and give me a hand."

"Really? I thought you didn't want me to break anything."

"I need you to hold the torch. It's bloody hot in here though, you might want to lose a layer or two before you join me."

Nodding, despite the fact he couldn't see her, she reached for her cardigan and threw it haphazardly onto the table before kicking her shoes off and leaving them strewn on the briefing room floor. Picking up the tool box, she took a deep breath before she joined him under the table.

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_**More soon, we promise! Please use the review button, that's what it's there for! **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**We still don't own anything which, as the innuendo in this thing gets progressively worse, is probably a good thing for all concerned ;) **_

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Settling themselves around the main hub of electrics in its futuristic looking brushed metal casing, Harry waited for Ruth to grab hold of the torch before taking a closer look at what was in front of him. His hand found the isolator switch for the hub, and switched it to 'off'.

Making a 'hmmmm' noise, and pulling the pout she'd so recently imagined, he opened up the case of tools and began to undo the screws that held the casing together, placing them safely in the lid of the tool box. "Keep the damn thing still Ruth" he snapped a little too edgily, as her torch light began to stray closer towards his face and chest than the area he was working on. "Oh shag, wrong side of the casing," he muttered, not finding what he was looking for, "it'll have to go back on."

Outside of their wooden bubble, the Grid was starting to fill for the morning, and Zaf poked his head around the door of the meeting room, early – for once – for the morning's briefing. Shaking his head, he turned to leave when he found it empty, but then shook his head harder and wiggled a finger in his ear when he convinced himself he heard a noise.

"I need the screws back."

"What?"

Zaf could _definitely_ hear voices, but where they were coming from and what they were saying was a mystery. Stepping further inside, he nearly choked when he both simultaneously realised where the voices were coming from, what they were saying and, worst of all, _who_ was saying it.

"I said, I'm looking for a good screw."

"Oh, look no further." Ruth handed Harry the small piece of metal, but an oblivious Zaf was already gesturing around the door for others to come and hear this for themselves.

"I hope you'll be happy with my handiwork when this is all over," Harry muttered, trying to appease Ruth who was fidgeting anxiously, and swaying the torch again.

"Are you sure you know how to do this?" She knew it was getting closer to presentation time, and didn't want any hitches.

Adam and Jo had just entered, followed soon after by Malcolm, and were shocked to hear Harry reply in a gruff tone:

"It's been a while, Ruth, but I don't think it's something you forget."

Four pairs of eyes widened as they each registered the implications of Harry's words.

Taking in the clothing that appeared to be flung on top of the table and noting the discarded shoes on the floor, Zaf nudged Adam and grinned.

"Told you they were at it" he whispered "That's fifty quid you owe me"

"Ssssssshh, we don't know that for definite" he replied quietly, although he had to admit that he was clutching at straws. The evidence was pretty overwhelming so far.

The hushed whispers continued as a brief silence took hold under the table. Harry had thought the problem was going to be simple – probably just a lose connection somewhere – but nothing was working still. He was now attempting to grasp at a wire buried deep within a tangle of cables, and was brandishing a pair of pliers as if he was Edward Scissor hands, with the screwdriver he had previously used clamped in his teeth and his other hand trying to untangle the other wires.

"It's just not happening," he huffed having spat out the screwdriver, and eight ears pricked. "I don't know what's up."

"Well if you let me have your tool then we could get things going, trust me, I know how to get things back on track." Ruth could clearly see he didn't have enough hands to keep hold of the cable they needed whilst freeing it from the rest, and thought it would be best if she took the pliers from his hand to keep the cable they'd identified in position as Harry worked to free it. On the other side of the table, however, Malcolm was blushing furiously and was starting to shift from foot to foot at the images Ruth's offer had created.

"Ok, buts it's delicate, be gentle with it."

"I think I can cope," she chastised, rolling her eyes. Zaf smirked and stifled a laugh.

"Listen, do you want my tool or not."

"Yes"

"Right, here then"

"I can't see, it's dark over here," her torch light only illuminated the case of electronics until now she had set it on the floor.

"Hold out your hands and feel for it, yes, there you go." Adam and Jo's jaws dropped in unison and Zaf's eyes widened in a mixture of horror and fascination.

Ruth took the pliers from his and held them steady around the wire. "Got it."

Harry felt her take them and watched in the torch light as the wire was held stable, enabling him to work around it. She watched with a slight admiration as he skilfully moved other wires and parts to reveal the wire he was after.

"Right, now hold the shaft firmly" she gripped a little tighter, knowing what he wanted her to do, and began to pull the wire outwards so that they could examine it. "Don't just tug it Ruth," he cried, as she got a little carried away, "it's a delicate piece of equipment…ah yes that's it, oh fantastic. Right, now leave it in my capable hands while you strip. Come on, take it off."

"There's no need to get snappy Harry. I knew I should have asked Malcolm."

Malcolm finally gave in at these last words, and turned to leave the room, watched by Jo who was sorely tempted to follow. Adam, on the other hand, put a firm hand on Zaf's shoulder, as he realised the younger male was instinctively drifting towards the hatch end of the desk.

Ruth fingers worked nimbly, using a Stanley knife and another, smaller pair, of pliers to strip the wire of its casing as Harry had the pliers back off her and held it steady. "Nearly stripped," she muttered out loud.

"Magnificent," he exclaimed, feeling they were finally progressing. However, seeing her struggling to remove the last bit of casing from the end he moved the angle of the wire and pulled it against her pliers to help.

"Ah yes. Tweak it, yes that's it," she cried enthusiastically.

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**_Now that Harry seems to be pressing all the right buttons, see if you can...go on, leave us a review! _**


	3. Chapter 3

_**same applies :P **_

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Malcolm was in such a hurry to leave the ensuing madness of the meeting room that he crashed straight into Ros, almost knocking her completely off her feet. He automatically reached out to steady her whilst beginning to stutter an apology. 

"Oh! Ros. Sorry, er, sorry, are you alright?"

"Bloody Hell Malcolm!" she exclaimed before softening her tone as she saw the hurt flicker briefly across his face "I'm fine. What's going on?"

"Nothing!"

"Well then perhaps you could let go of me and we can get to the briefing?"

Malcolm instantly dropped his arms from her shoulders only to grab her again when she tried to move towards the meeting room. At her raised eyebrow he offered a hurried explanation.

"I shouldn't go in there just yet if I were you."

"Why the hell not? I do work here just like the rest of you" she was fast becoming impatient with the situation.

"Ah, well, you see. Ruth and Harry are, um, Harry and er Ruth well they're..."

"Yes?"

"Somewhat occupied." He stated with blush "Under the table. Together."

Her eyes widened in shock, briefly, as she pieced together what he was telling her. She looked away from Malcolm and towards the meeting room, where she could just make out three figures huddled near the door.

"This I have to hear," she announced and tried to set off, only to be stopped by him once more.

"Ah, um, before you go I should tell you that, well, that Ruth implied something about me a few minutes ago and everyone heard."

"Implied what?"

"That, she uh, that she, er, wanted me..." he trailed off unsure of where he was actually going with this particular conversation.

"So what? What's the big deal?"

"Well I wouldn't want people to think I was interested in her," he took a deep breath and tried to steady his nerves. "I especially wouldn't want you to think I was interested in her."

"Oh!" A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth at his confession, "come on, let's go and see what's going on in there. Maybe we can go for a drink or something later?"

Smiling happily he nodded and together they walked back into the meeting room.

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"Right, give me that back," Ruth said, motioning for him to hand her the larger pair of pliers which held the wire, and putting down her own tools.

"Stop rushing me and telling me what to do." Harry was not one to take orders from anyone, and although he let Ruth get away with more than anyone, fixing the break in the wire and then re-insulating it was going to try his patience enough as it was.

"Sorry Harry, but this is a big deal. I want to impress you," she muttered a little sheepishly. Ros's eyebrows raised at least another inch, and were now nearly in her hairline and she tried to bite down the genuine smile which was forming. Under the table, Harry's demeanour softened, as he realised it was nerves about the presentation that were winding her up, and pulled a mint from his pocket. He was a great believer in old remedies, and there was nothing like peppermint for calming a nauseous stomach.

"It's ok. Calm down and just suck on that."

Even Zaf spluttered this time!

"Ahhh" he muttered as he found the problem, unaware that on the other side of the table 5 people were staring at each other with varying degrees of horror on their face.

Harry was just reaching down to start his repair of the cable when her hand on his arm stopped him.

"What about protection?" she asked seriously.

The last thing she wanted was for him to get hurt somehow. Seeing the genuine concern on her face he smiled at her reassuringly, before grabbing a pair of safety glasses from the tool box and waving them at her.

"It's ok I came prepared," he knew that the small pieces of damaged wire he needed to snip off could fly into his eye otherwise.

An uneasy atmosphere settled in the room as a relative quite descended. Adam finally dug into his pocket and removed three notes and passed them to Zaf, who then turned to look expectantly at the rest of them. Jo mouthed something about her purse and refused to move to go and get it, whilst Ros gave her best death glare. It was only Malcolm who had had the decency not to bet on the pair of them.

Under the table, Harry removed the damaged portion of wiring, making sure it still had enough slack to reach where it needed to, and nodded to Ruth that he was ready to progress.

She picked up the roll of insulating tape, and handed it to Harry. "Right, so we need to wrap the sheath around it!?" she asked. He nodded in reply, and began to do so. Now all that was left was to thread the wire back where it came from, a fiddly task not made any easier by the fact that Harry's job of taping the wire had made it substantially thicker than the original.

She watched in the dim light as he cut the end of the tape and placed the roll back down, ready to continue.

"I want to get this right first time Ruth. Open them up," he requested of the pliers in her hand. She did as he bid her whilst four pairs of eyes blinked hard at the images this was all creating. "Right, ok, careful it's delicate."

This time Zaf really did snort and Adam elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"Just do it already, I'm hot down here."

"I'm the boss, Ruth, don't rush me, I want to do this right."

_Oh God,_ though Jo, _I'm going to need some serious therapy after this_. She stood contemplating this for a second, and then, on reflection, decided that it would be infinitely better to live with the images than to pay a visit to Miranda.

"Ok, guide it in slowly," Ruth encouraged as Harry took his own pliers and began to guide the wire to its hole. "Yes, right, you're nearly in." She shifted so that she could see the other side, and watch for the wire appearing through the gap.

"Ok Ruth, once I'm in, I need you to take it and squeeze tight around it." She positioned her pliers ready at his command.

"It's not going to fit; I think it's too big." She could see the end of it butting up against the small opening, but it was refusing to fit through.

Jo's and Ros's faces grew into small smiles of curiosity as they drifted off slightly into their respective thoughts. Neither doubted he was a well built and powerful man, but whoever would have guessed…

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_**Go on...press that little button... **_


	4. Chapter 4

**_We still don't own them! More's the pity! _**

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"It will fit; we just need to wiggle it a bit…"

"It still won't fit, it's too tight."

"Of course it will," he exclaimed as the tip finally poked through a little way.

"No you're angling it all wrong and pushing in too shallow," she admonished, when her pliers failed to grasp the end to pull it through.

"Well help me out then, you'll need to move a bit to get it right." Harry was adamant this wasn't his fault.

"Right, that's it, pass me the lubricant!" she demanded, using her free hand to point to the tool box's small spray can of WD-40.

"We don't need lubricant."

"Harry, if you can't get it in there, then we'll have to resort to battery power," she huffed, thinking how shoddy her presentation would look running off a laptop with half the gird huddled around it. He reluctantly passed it to her and she sprayed some around the edge of the hole. "Oh, it's in!" she cried, genuinely pleased. "Push it harder. Yes that's it. Oh, I didn't realise this'd be quite so hard." She sighed, wiping her brow and tried to move back over towards Harry and the centre of the desk.

Her foot caught on a plug as she crawled and her head banged loudly on the top of the desk as she did so, before cascading down into Harry's lap and letting out a moaning cry.

Shocked at her sudden appearance out of the gloom, not least that her sudden appearance was on top of him, Harry's own head jerked and hit the hard wood, and he grunted in pain.

"Oh God!" she cried, mortified at finding herself face to crotch with her boss and at having caused him to hit his head. She scrambled frantically to extricate herself from him, kicking the lid of the tool box shut with a bang and toppling the can of WD-40 with a clatter.

"Ruth, calm down, you'll have half the Grid in here wondering what's going on with the racket you're making. Just let me," he tried to move and help he sit up without causing further damage, "here, get your leg over," he suggested, his arms supporting her waist as she tried to turn her body in such a small space.

Ruth froze and her eyes snapped to his at his comment. Her eyes widened as she realised just how intimately they were entwined. It appeared that Harry had noticed the exact same thing as he immediately began to clarify his words. The way his voice dropped to a hoarse whisper as he next spoke made the setting even more personal; like a secret conversation between lovers.

"Er, no. I didn't mean...that was the wrong choice of words...it's just an expression," he trailed off self consciously. He was now suddenly aware that he was in a confined space, his body pressed close to the woman who had haunted his dreams almost every night for three years.

"It's ok Harry, I know you didn't mean anything by it" she said quietly.

Had he not been so close to her, he would have missed the brief disappointment that flashed across her face. Unconsciously, his grip on her waist tightened, his gaze held hers and the atmosphere in the small, shadowy space suddenly crackled with a different kind of electricity. Ruth had thought it impossible to get much hotter under the desk; it seemed she had been wrong; her temperature had definitely shot up a few degrees in the last couple of minutes.

"We should, erm," she placed one hand on the tool box and bobbed her head towards the glimmer of light at the end of the desk. Her shoulders dropped when he nodded and removed his hand from where it rested, her skin still burning beneath her blouse at the contact.

She crawled carefully towards the end of the desk, followed by Harry who had taken the tool box from her and held it in hand. Reaching the small opening, she paused and twisted, prepared to offer to take to box from Harry. He, however, was oblivious, and continued forwards, ploughing into her as his eyes squinted in the sudden bright light he found himself exposed to. The appearance of the back of his head above the edge of the desk as he emerged was enough to draw five sharp but quiet intakes of breath at the far end of the room, and, as he disappeared again, all five spooks crept forwards far enough to see without being seen.

"I, Ruth, sorry, I…" He was sprawled awkwardly on top of her and quickly shifted his weight to his arms, and moving his legs either side of hers.

"It's er," she shook her head, blinked her eyes hard and reopened them, as if she'd simply just imagined being pinned to the floor.

His face was inches from hers. Centimetres. Millimetres. It seemed to be drawing closer and closer although which of them was closing the gap, she couldn't be certain. And _Oh God_ if she just took in a breath too deep…

His lips were soft as they brushed against hers, and she wasn't even aware of having closed her eyes until they fluttered open again and came to focus on his own, gazing down at her, a sheepish grin momentarily flickering at the corners of his mouth. She returned the smile and pressed her lashes against her cheeks as she gently pressed her mouth against his, her tongue making the slightest play across his lips.

"Thank you," she breathed, although whether she was thanking him for his help or for having just kissed her, she didn't know.

Smiling down at her he leant forward and brushed his lips against hers once more before pulling back and whispering to her.

"Not nervous any more I hope?"

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she opened her eyes and began to shake her head. As she moved her head something caught the corner of her eye and she lifted her gaze above Harry's left shoulder. Hey eyes widened in horror as she saw Zaf and Adam peering down at her. Seeing the look on her face Harry craned his neck round and saw what had alarmed her.

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**_If you're not either too shocked or too busy laughing, please leave a review! _**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Just a reminder that the crazy peas - that would be me and Em - still don't own anything or anyone in this fic...much as we would like to!_**

**_

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"Comfortable down there is it?!" Zaf asked cheekily and took great pleasure in watching the colour rise in his bosses face._**

Harry and Ruth scrambled frantically to get up off of the floor; somehow they managed to do it without compromising themselves even further. They stood quickly and straightened themselves out, hoping to retain some small amount of dignity.

"Excellent timing. You're all just in time for the presentation. Bloody projector broke this morning but I think we sorted it" Harry commented in his usual gruff tone, falling back on the familiar in the hope that it would allow him to avoid mention of the last few moments.

"You fixed it?" Adam asked incredulously and Ruth felt the need to defend Harry and all his hard work.

"He did. He has very talented hands."

"So we heard," Ros remarked dryly.

She and Harry were momentarily confused when the five people in front of them all burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Harry demanded, aware of the sudden dread that had settled in his stomach. He was missing something but just couldn't quite put his finger on what.

"Oh come on Harry. We heard everything. You can't tell us that you two weren't just getting up close and personal under the table."

He looked blankly at Ruth and then back to Ros.

"You needing a good screw? Ruth stripping? Other things I'd really rather forget I _ever_ heard…we could hear all of it."

"No, you, that was…" ten eyes implored him to come up with a reasonable explanation and, even though he had one, he knew it was pointless him wasting his breath on telling them, and so he settled for the only thought which decided to enter his head. "Believe me, Rosalind, if we had been doing that do you think I'd still be stood here talking to you lot instead of going somewhere for a repeat performance?"

Ruth swallowed hard and willed the redness she could feel seeping into her cheeks to go away. However, a large part of her was thrilled at his words, and she felt the hairs on her body stand to attention as she imagined what he could do to her.

"I assure you, there was nothing funny going on and, contrary to whatever you choose to believe, we were not getting 'up close and personal' under the table." Harry had on his sternest voice, which softened as he continued. "Besides, Ruth is a lady, she deserves better than a quick fumble in the dark." The words were out before he could check himself and he immediately regretted it.

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The briefing would live in all their memories as the most awkward twenty minutes of all their lives, a time during which none of them dare make eye contact and each word was carefully measured and thought about before it left its owner's mouth. As it drew to a close and the ensemble practically dashed for the doors, stifling excited whisperings and hushed giggles, Ruth and Harry remained seated.

Her eyes slowly moved upwards to settle on him, and found that he was already watching her. He smiled gently and the butterflies in her stomach threatened to overwhelm her sensibilities. Grabbing hold of her notes, she shuffled the papers rapidly and clumsily and began to turn around.

"Ruth."

She stopped and waited for him to continue.

"Are we…ok?" he trailed off weakly.

Placing the papers back down, she rested her hands on the desk and breathed in deeply and slowly.

"Did you mean that?" her eyes were trained on a knot in the wood, and stubbornly refused to move from it.

"What?"

"What you said, about…?" her head waved about as she kept staring at the work surface, hoping he would catch her drift.

"That you deserve more than a grope under the desk with me? Yes."

"No. Besides, that's not what you said, you, er. That's not the point. Did you mean that you'd have wanted to, er, take me home?"

"Yes," he answered, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers and wishing she would just look up from the desk so that he could read her eyes.

"Really?" the word came out more as a quiet rush of air than anything else, and she finally let her eyes meet his.

"Really."

"G-going back to your other point then," she managed, slowly. "I think it's me who's the undeserving one," she started slowly and with genuine affection, letting the humour creep into her voice as they both relaxed a little and Harry nodded acknowledgement to her words and raised his eyebrows softly. "Mmm, I can only imagine what else those talented hands can do."

Tbc...

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_**If you leave us a review we might just let find out exactly what his hands can do...**_


	6. Chapter 6

Harry could have sworn that all the blood in his body rushed south at her words. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat as he tried to find his voice. "I'll show you what they can do. Come here."

He stood and reached his arm out towards her, pulling her flush against his body. His hands slid to her waist as he lowered his head to hers and captured her mouth in an intense kiss. He kissed her fiercely, her own passion matching his and before she knew what was happening, his hands began to roam over her body. The light caresses and the feel of his tongue stroking against hers, sending her senses into overdrive.

How long the kiss lasted she didn't know. The only thing she was aware of was that he had somehow managed to pin her to the table without her realising it.

Her hands, which had steadied her against the desk, now played with the downy, soft hair at the nape of his neck as she sighed into his mouth. His hands rested a moment on her hips, before grasping them and lifting her the tiny amount needed for her to sit comfortably on the wooden surface and her legs parted to allow him to step closer. Eventually, his lips left hers, the delicate skin burning and tingling; just longing to be touched again. His nose nudged against hers and she leaned to press her mouth lightly and briefly against his once more.

"Convinced that there isn't anything more I want than you yet?" she asked with a wry, if bashful, smile.

He gave a gruff laugh and his breath washed over her flush skin. Her thumb was playing over his bottom lip and he pinched it lightly before kissing it. "You never fail to provide the evidence, do you? In anything you do?"

She shook her head and grinned a little before falling silent for a pause. "Harry, what…"

"…happens? Out there?"

She nodded.

"They mock us a little, I shout a little and they ultimately believe what they will. You know I won't let them upset you though, don't you?" he added, noting the fear behind the sparkle in her eyes.

"I know" she admitted quietly and offered him a small smile as he lifted her chin and her eyes locked with his warm chocolate stare.

"Can I, er, can we, maybe um, later I mean..." she trailed off suddenly woefully inarticulate. It was ridiculous really, here she was, tongue tied at the prospect of asking him out, when only minutes earlier she had been pinned to the table by him.

Fortunately for her, Harry had always been able to understand her ramblings and this was no exception.

"We'll definitely continue this later, Ruth." He leant in and brushed a final kiss against her willing mouth. "For now though, I need to go and speak to the Home Secretary."

She groaned wearily as they moved apart, straightened their clothes and headed for the door together.

"You mean to say that I'm going to have to put up with Adam and Zaf on my own?"

"For a short while yes. I shouldn't worry though, they're all professionals…," his words trailed off as they opened the door of the meeting room and walked out onto the Grid to be greeted with wolf whistles, heckles and cheering.

Harry shot a withering stare in the direction of his subordinates and lightly brushed his fingers against Ruth's in reassurance.

"Mr Carter, Mr Younis, I hear Mossad are looking for shooting targets, and Ms Portman, Ms Myers, Debra is looking for volunteers to trial her new crackpot "Friends in the Field" scheme: a weekend of bonding with the woman herself…would you like to find your names on the list?"

The room fell quiet.

"Thought that might do it. If you continue to insist on making a racket which can only be described as being something close to chimps in a zoo, then believe me when I say, it can be arranged for you to spend a day in a cage."

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Ruth gave a grateful sigh when she walked through the door to her home. It had been an incredibly long day. Parts of it she never, ever wanted to repeat as long as she lived. Other parts of it she longed to recapture. Had she been braver she might have stayed on the Grid long enough to make plans for the evening with Harry but as it was she had endured just about enough of the knowing looks and winks that had been cast in her direction throughout the day. The final straw had been a comment from Malcolm, of all people, when he had innocently asked 'What type of screw was it?' in reference to the earlier repairs they had done.

Flicking the switch on the kettle, she paced the kitchen as she waited for the water to boil. The things people jested about shouldn't have gotten to her, and the truth was, it probably wouldn't have been half so bad had she not got the most ridiculous crush on him. The fact that he seemed to return those feelings, at least to some degree, did little to abate things though, as still, every time she looked at him, she replayed their under-desk conversation, now sullied by the realisation of exactly how it sounded, and wished it could have been true.

The doorbell rang just as she was about to drop a tea bag into the patterned mug and she trudged through the hall ready to tell whatever salesman it was to bugger off.

"Harry?" She looked at him as he stood sheepishly on the doorstep. It was unusual to see him look so unsure of himself, and truth be told, she found it adorable. "Was there, is there, erm…what are you doing here?"

"You left in a bit of a hurry; I came to see if you were ok."

She smiled at him sweetly and thanked him graciously. She desperately wanted to invite him inside, but no words seemed to be forming in her mouth. _You're a grown woman for God's sake Ruth, just spit it out. Ask him in for coffee…no, that's too cliché, sounds like you want sex…but you do want sex…yes, but I'm not bloody about to announce it to him._ She blinked hard, aware that she hadn't answered him yet. "I'm, I'm ok thanks. Is that, er, did you come for anything else? I mean, not, oh, not 'anything else', I mean, you just came to check on me? Yes, you just came to check on me. Thank you Harry, that's very gentlemanly of you."

"Ruth," he cut through her inane waffling, stepping forward and kissing her hard on the mouth. She staggered backwards into the hallway with the force of it, dragging him with her as her fingers grasped the lapels of his coat before walking up and around his neck as his tongue stroked against hers. With a kick, he had closed the door and turned and pinned her to it. Braced against the wood and glass, her hands wandered over his upper body, and she found herself pushing his jacket off him and he shrugged it to the floor. As they broke away, a burst of laughter tripped from his throat, and she looked at him with a strange sort of curiosity.

"I was wondering how to raise the subject of my talented hands," he chuckled throatily.


	7. Chapter 7

A soft, gentle laugh escaped from her throat at his words. She looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes and a mischievous smile played about her lips as she spoke.

"Perhaps actions might speak louder than words, Harry."

"Yes, I think you might be right," he whispered softly as he trailed the fingertips of his left hand up her right arm, leaving her with goose bumps.

He took great pleasure in watching her as he moved the collar of her shirt to one side and traced his index finger lightly across the sensitive skin of her neck and along her collar bone. His eyes never left hers as his finger followed the open line of her shirt towards her cleavage; she chewed her bottom lip and tried to remember to breathe as he flicked open the first button of her shirt and brushed his cold fingers against the warm swell of her breasts.

He continued to open her shirt with agonisingly slow precision, teasing them both as his fingers skimmed her flesh softly. Her breath caught in her throat as he freed the last button from its hole and his hands pushed the soft cotton garment apart before coming to rest on her waist. He inched his way up her smooth torso before covering her ample breasts with his questing hands. Ruth groaned and moved her head back to rest against the door as his hands wreaked havoc on her senses. Taking the opportunity to taste her skin, he moved forward and began to place open mouthed kisses and soft licks down her neck.

"Harry..." her breathless moan of his name faltered as he found a particularly sensitive spot and laved his tongue over it repeatedly. "Oh...we should...upstairs..."

He nodded his consent against her skin, his mouth never breaking contact with the delicate, creamy flesh. His eyes opened and briefly glanced sideways past her shoulder and towards the stairs, before twisting them both and walking his legs between hers as he directed her backwards towards them. As they stumbled, his mouth moved to engage hers in a kiss which tangled their tongues as they teased each other, probing gently and then pulling a way a little.

She felt the back of her calf press against the edge of the first carpeted step, and lifted her foot to cautiously yet hurriedly mount it. His hands stroked over the skin of her back underneath her open blouse and, as she raised herself, his mouth left hers and began paying attention once more to the juncture of her jaw and neck, down towards her collar bone, pushing the fine cotton further down her arm. She shrugged as he did so, and his hands moved to her shoulders, gently smoothing down her arms and aiding her attempt to remove the garment. At the same time, he too stepped up, his legs either side of hers on the narrow ledge so that they were pressed together and his mouth found hers again. Another step, another mind blowing kiss. It wasn't until the third step, when Harry came to finally tug the blouse from where he had now managed to get it at the base of her wrists, that they both realised it wasn't going to come off. Hands stuck firmly inside the inside out shirt, which wound behind her back, Ruth giggled profusely at the look on Harry's face as he broke the kiss.

"Buttons!" she exclaimed.

"I was right," he whispered very quietly into her ear, almost purring against her skin, "chaos does follow you."

"Maybe," she murmured playfully as she shrugged her shirt back on quickly and opened the cuffs before letting it fall back off her shoulders and on to the floor "or maybe it's just the affect you have on me Harry."

Before he could respond, she reached up and grasped his tie feeling the cool smooth silk between her fingers as she used it to pull him towards her slowly.

"Follow me."

Not about to argue Harry, obligingly followed her as she walked up the remainder of the stairs and into her bedroom.

She pulled him into the middle of the room with her, stopping by the foot of the bed. Swallowing hard, he reeled at the thought that he was finally here in her bedroom, while she used his tie once more to her advantage and pulled him in for a heated kiss.

His soft full lips moved against hers skilfully, his tongue ran over her bottom lip lightly, teasing her own out to meet his. Her hands busied themselves with removing his tie which was quickly followed by his jacket which landed on the floor in a heap, and Harry's feet tugged at his shoes as he kicked them off.

His fingers wound themselves into her hair as he kissed her with a renewed hunger, eager to explore her warm, delicate mouth. He felt her fingertips brush against his chest lightly as she fumbled with the buttons of his shirt and smiled into the kiss as she tugged the shirt from his waistband before running her hands up his broad chest and finally pushing it off of him completely.

Eager to feel her skin against his, Harry lowered his hands until he reached the lace of her bra, his fingers groping for the fastener at the back. Unable to find what he was looking for, he tore his mouth from hers and peered over her shoulder to try and see what he was doing.

"Ruth, give me a clue..."

She tried not to laugh as she realised that the bra she was wearing was a front fastening one; biting her lip to stop the giggles she could feel bubbling up inside her, she reached around for his hands and guided them to the right place.

She gasped as they brushed the soft flesh of her cleavage and noticed with a small smile that his fingers seemed to tremble a little as he tried to work the clasp and finally freed it. As he did so, she caught his hands in hers and brought them to her lips, kissing each one in turn as she held his eyes. He blinked slowly and let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Smiling, he turned his wrist so that he held hers instead of the other way around and placed her arms around his neck as he picked her up and carried her towards the bed, littered with cushions.

As he dipped her back, she released her arms long enough to shrug out of the delicate lace of her bra, and heard his sharp intake of breath at the sight she made. The pinky-orange light of the sunset which crept into the room amongst the long shadows, cast a surreal glow across her almost translucent skin, the shadows defining every contour of her body; the swell of her breasts and the curve of her waist; the small dip of her collar bone and the contours of her hips at the line of her skirt.

Sitting up a little, she reached for the buckle of his belt and he stood up from the edge of the bed to let her free him from it. Kissing across his stomach as her fingers worked to release the belt and then his fly, she then let her hands snake around the waistband, raking her nails over his firm, rounded bottom as she pushed both trousers and boxers down at once, squeezing it again as she moved her hand back up once he'd kicked both off.

She pushed backwards, settling herself on the mattress and his hands came to rest on her waist as he lingered over her.

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_**more soon, possibly after my (Em) exams! Thanks for reading xx **_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Here we go, our final chapter of (very smutty - you've been warned) nonsense. Enjoy it! **_

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He leant forward and brushed his mouth against hers softly, feeling the contours of her plump lips against his own, and groaned softly as he felt the gentle flick of her tongue over his bottom lip. He instantly deepened the kiss, allowing his tongue to tangle with hers. He shuddered as he felt her nails scrape down the sides of his torso and she repeated the motion, taking delight in him pressing against her more fully as she did so.

With a small growl, he reached one arm behind him to capture her wandering hands, firmly but gently grabbing hold of first one wrist and pulling it with him, then the other, until he had raised both her arms above her head, holding them in place with a large, warm hand.

"That tickled," he growled.

"Sorry." The satisfied smirk on her face did little to make him believe she was truly repentant.

He shot her a look which sent a wave of electricity coursing through her veins and then surprised her by nibbling on her earlobe. "You will be."

His tongue snaked out and flicked over the exposed flesh of her neck, tracing a pattern known only to him. She felt his teeth graze against her as he reached her pulse point, and rewarded him with a moan of his name as he sucked her flesh hard; marking her; claiming her as his own. His mouth continued to trail over her heated flesh and she swore as he reached her breasts and licked around one nipple delicately, prior to covering the hardened peak with his hot mouth. He teased her breasts with his mouth, licking and sucking until she was writhing beneath him and begging him for more. She wrestled her hands free and wove her fingers through his soft hair, arching her back as he bit down on her nipple gently.

As he slowly – deliberately – released the soft tissue, reducing his touches to light kisses, her hands relinquished their grasp on the curls at the nape of his neck and smoothed forward around his shoulders and onto his chest. Cautiously but eagerly, flat palms and nimble fingers turned themselves to work lower, feeling him react with a tremble the lower she moved them. Loosing concentration on what he was doing, he let the feel of her right hand brushing against him become the only thing he was aware of for a blissful few seconds, until the sensation was accompanied by the equally welcome heat of her lips and tongue travelling across his jaw line to his own mouth.

Their kisses snatched at each other, tongues extended to flick together, lips sometimes barely brushing and other times sucking gently on the other's, too caught up in the hands which now moved across each others bodies of their own accord to stop and claim each others mouths, yet desperate for more contact; more kisses; more skin against skin.

Reluctantly, he eased his body away from hers in order to be able to remove her remaining clothes. His nimble fingers danced across her soft skin as he reached for the fastening of her skirt and prised it open. He moved off her and to the foot of the bed, allowing her to raise her hips slightly as he dragged the material down her body until she was laid before him in just her French knickers. He swallowed hard and drank the sight of her in, his hands skimming softly up the length of her leg as he climbed back onto the bed.

She trembled slightly as his fingers grazed the sensitive skin of her inner thigh inching ever closer to where she wanted them most. He played with the edge of her underwear, teasing her, laughing when she growled his name in frustration. Without warning he moved her underwear to one side before leaning down and moving his tongue over her lightly. Her hips bucked as his tongue flickered back and forth over her heated flesh, swearing between ragged breaths she reached for him, needing him inside her.

His response was merely to smirk and raise his eyebrows, daring her to beg, pulling away from her grasp despite his mutual need to her. His fingers replaced themselves at the edge of the delicate lace, teasing it slowly down the creamy, sensitized skin of her thighs as she struggled to get them off quicker than he had in mind. As he finally pulled the garment off, he placed a light kiss on the bone of her ankle, smiling as she propped herself on her elbows to watch him as he kissed up to her knee before settling back over her, his one hand holding his weigh while the other trailed lazily up the inside of her right leg and resting where his mouth had left.

She managed a breathless pant of "no" as her own hand encased itself around his thick shaft and the though of him inside her reduced the sound to a shuddering breath.

"Please," her voice cracked as she moved along the length of him and felt his hips buck, touching them together as both her hands moved to the quilted covers, digging her nails into them to anchor her body against the forces rippling through it.

He was powerless to resist as she guided him to her, a deep moan sounding from his throat as he slid into her fully and her legs wrapped around him. Her name tumbled from his lips repeatedly as he began to thrust and he drew the moment out as long as he could, relishing the feel of her; of making love to her for the first time.

Her nails raked down his back and she cried out as he angled her hips and penetrated her deeper, pushing her towards the orgasm that lingered just beyond her reach. He continued his relentless assault on her senses, watching in wonder as she convulsed beneath him as her orgasm washed over her. Her release triggered his own and he thrust twice more before letting go and exploding inside her.

The film of perspiration that covered their bodies glimmered in the last of the fading light as their dazed eyes came to focus on each other and they rested exactly as they were for a precious few moments more.

"I've been longing for that since that incident at the desk," he whispered hotly and lovingly into her ear.

"Since first thing?"

"No," he replied, honestly, as he met her eyes, "since the first time you swept into the briefing room and I was sat at that desk cracking that awful joke. I love you Ruth. I know you know that, because I know this never would have happened if you weren't sure of that fact, but you deserve to be told. You deserved to have been told before now, in fact, and for that, I'm truly sorry."

She raised a delicate finger to his lips, tracing the outline before laying it flat against the plump flesh. "No apologies. No regrets. Just us."

"And the desk," he hinted playfully, with a wink.

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_**Thanks for reading,**_

_** love, **_

_**Em and Kate xxx**_


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